EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jason Kidd has an excuse for his poor shooting and inability at times to stay with Tony Parker.

The New Jersey point guard is still bothered by the right ankle he sprained May 24 in Game 4 of the Nets' sweep of Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals.

''I know J's ankle is still swollen a little bit,'' Anthony Johnson, who backs up Kidd at point guard, said Thursday. ''I know he is not going to use that as an excuse, the guy that he is. J is playing a lot of minutes, and when you play a lot of minutes on a bad ankle it wears on you.''

Parker's play and Kidd's ankle were two reasons the Nets decided to put Kerry Kittles on the San Antonio point guard in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.

With the quicker Kittles on top of Parker, the young star was limited to three points on 1-for-12 shooting as the Nets beat San Antonio 77-76 to even the best-of-seven series.

''Taking me off Parker pretty much most of the game gave me opportunity to play both ends at a higher level,'' said Kidd, who had 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in Game 4.

While Kidd isn't limping, he has been bothered by the ankle.

After averaging 20.3 points, 8.3 assists, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 turnovers in the first three rounds of the playoffs, Kidd's numbers have slipped. He is averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 assists, 6.5 rebounds and four turnovers in the finals. His shooting percentage has dropped from the mid 40s to 33 percent.

More telling is the fact that the 6-foot-2 Parker dominated the 6-4 Kidd in the Spurs' wins in Games 1 and 3. Parker was so quick, Kidd had trouble staying with him coming off screens. Kittles is 6-5 and possibly the Nets' fastest player.

''I don't think we've seen the best of J-Kidd,'' Nets coach Byron Scott said. ''He can play better. I'm sure he would tell you the same thing. He could play a lot better than he's playing. But he's a warrior. He's going to go out there and give everything that he's got.''

Kidd said his ankle isn't the only thing that's sore.

''At this time in June, if you're playing, you're going to have some soreness or some bumps and bruises,'' Kidd said. ''You've got to play through that. It just happens to be my ankle is a little sore, but that's not going to slow me down.''

Nets forward Donny Marshall, one of Kidd's closest friends on the team, said Kidd would never let anyone know whether his ankle was really bothering him.

''He wouldn't tell you even if he was in excruciating pain,'' Marshall said.

In Game 4, Kidd sat just 62 seconds in the second quarter.

''When he got subbed out, he told them he didn't want to come out,'' Marshall recalled. ''He said: 'This is crunch time, I need to be on the floor 48 minutes.'

''A guy who is worried about his ankle is not going to do that.''

Kidd wasn't the only player with injury issues Thursday.

Power forward Kenyon Martin, who was sent home from Thursday's practice because he was not feeling well, also missed the pregame shootaround for Game 5.

''He called today, he said he feels a lot better,'' Scott said. ''He just wanted to stay home to rest.''

Martin also didn't feel well for Game 4 on Wednesday, and he had 20 points and 13 rebounds in 40 minutes.

''K is going to be ready to go tonight, we don't expect anything less,'' Kidd said. ''He has played sick before. He played sick in Game 4.''